Wednesday 12 May 2021

12th May 2021 Unst NE4 Overcast

Drizzly rain from dawn soon cleared to leave a cool and increasingly breezy day that produced my first Common Sandpiper and Greenshank of the year, a similar selection of passerine migrants to the last two days, improved views of the Common Buzzard and an evening summer-plumaged White-billed Diver sat alongside a summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver off Norwick.
 
Millfield: Whinchat, Willow Warbler

Skaw: Stonechat, 2 Whinchat (m & f), Robin, Fieldfare, 3 Willow Warbler

Holsen's road: Ring Ouzel

Norwick: White-billed Diver, 2 Great Northern Divers, Common Buzzard, Tree Pipit, 4 Robin, 4 Song Thrush, 2 Ring Ouzel, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Pied Flycatcher, 7 Brambling

Sotland: Common Redstart, 2 Pied Flycatchers (m & f), Fieldfare

Burrafirth: Common Sandpiper, Tree Pipit

Haroldswick: Sanderling, Knot

NorthDale: 2 Song Thrush, 5 Fieldfare, Ring Ouzel

Lamba Ness: Greenshank, White Wagtail, 2 Common Redstarts, Robin, Ring Ouzel, Willow Warbler

Male Whinchat at Millfield

Female Whinchat at Skaw

Common Sandpiper at Burrafirth

roadside male Pied Flycatcher at Sotland






Common Buzzard at Norwick
Forsman (1999) states the grey-brown morph is the most common 'Steppe' Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus in the western part of the range. Adults are greyish-brown above and the ground-colour of the tail is mostly greyish brown or grey, with or without some rufous distally. Tail shows rather fine and dense barring above, sometimes becoming paler with suffused bars towards the base. Upper hand often shows a paler patch outside the darkish primary coverts; it is small and usually restricted to the bases of the fingered primaries in adults, but may be large and distinct in some juveniles recalling Long-legged Buzzard.

This Buzzard has always appeared rather small. There are some retained worn older generation primaries so it's clearly not a full adult. Interestingly it shows a combination of rufous and grey tones to the upperside of its tail that is considered indicative of the form Buteo buteo vulpinus 'Steppe' Buzzard and a narrow subterminal tail-band See https://www.dutchbirding.nl/journal/pdf/DB_2011_33_5.pdf 

Top two images: Steppe Buzzards Buteo buteo vulpinus, adult mannetje (verzameld te Twickel, Overijssel, op 16 april 1902; boven), met adult vrouwtje (verzameld in Zuid-Rusland in maart 1908), Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, 15 maart 2006 (Nils van Duivendijk).
Lower two images: Norwick

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo, mannetje (verzameld te Ravensbosch, Houthem, Limburg, op 18 december 1917), Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, 15 maart 2006 (Nils van Duivendijk).

I’m actually less keen on the extent of the barring to the underside of p6/p7 on the Norwick bird albeit it’s not too difficult to find images of Steppe Buzzards showing similar…

Besides, the range of variation shown by Common Buzzard Buteo buteo and a wide zone of intergradation across Scandinavia complicates the issue to the point that A review on behalf of the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee Andrew H. J. Harrop and Martin Collinson © British Birds 96 • May 2003 • 247-249 stated that ‘Common Buzzards which show characteristics of vulpinus are recorded occasionally in Britain, but sight records, even if they are supported by photographic evidence, are unlikely to be acceptable.

White Wagtail at Lamba Ness


Hundreds of Puffins flying past Lamba Ness

Male Common Redstart at Lamba Ness

Female Pied Flycatcher at Lamba Ness


Greenshank at Lamba Ness